HALLOWEEN FIREPLACE DECORATIONS: A GOTHIC APOTHECARY MANTLE

These gothic-inspired Halloween fireplace decorations are a mix of vintage finds, store-bought decorations, and DIY crafts. Together, they create an eerie and eclectic layered Halloween mantel, reminiscent of a medieval apothecary or voodoo fortune teller’s shop.

Any store-bought items can be found in the product list at the end of the post!

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HALLOWEEN INSPIRATION

What childhood memories does Halloween time bring back for you?

For me, it’s carving jack-o-lanterns with my brother and trying my best not to get stringy pumpkin guts all over me. Or the savory aroma of chili filling my Granny’s house as she serves up steaming bowls of it after a night of trick-or-treating, while my cousins and I sprawl out on the floor and trade candy (bartering several pieces of hard candies and taffy for one piece of delicious chocolate, because no one likes the other stuff anyway, right?).

Haunted houses. Popcorn balls. Face paint. Those giant jack-o-lantern bags that we’d fill up with raked leaves… Freezing in my costume, because this was before global warming gave us 85-degree nights in October!

Decades later, my Halloween looks a lot different. Now I’m the one serving chili for family and friends each holiday after we take our own kiddos around the neighborhood. Having company each Halloween also puts me in the decorating spirit!

Some years, my house transforms into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry or a glitzy roaring ’20s speakeasy for theme parties. Other years, I decorate more traditionally with ghosts, spiders, and pumpkins.

This year, I went with more of a vintage vibe, intentionally mixing antique finds with DIY crafts and store-bought decorations to create a spooky fireplace mantle. I’m enjoying the eerie and macabre decor before my boys get old enough to want happy, smiling pumpkins and ghosts instead!

Also check out my Spooky Halloween Entryway here!

LET’S BREAK IT DOWN… MY HALLOWEEN FIREPLACE DECORATIONS

My three favorite pieces of this gothic-inspired Halloween mantle are the vintage giant brass pitcher, the faux raven skull, and the DIY potion bottles. The pitcher was sourced from a local vintage store while the bird skull was from Michaels.

I made these Harry Potter potion bottles using free printables from Over the Big Moon several years ago for a Harry Potter-themed costume party and reused them with the mantle decor.

Another great printable source is My Someday in May, and it’s where I found the bat printable used behind the bird skull. It was easy to print off and paste to a black-painted canvas using Mod Podge and kept with the spooky-vintage theme.

The fortune teller sign was a last-minute addition, and I like how the green accents match the green hues from the antique books and potion bottle labels, giving the mantle a little color outside of black and brass.

I topped the antique spindles with black ostrich feathers and continued the bird theme with crows and cloches. The black Halloween mesh served as a good base to span the mantel.

I paired mix-matched vintage brass candlesticks with black candles and added some fun vintage candlesticks depicting Medieval scenes on the columns. The rubber snake added a bit of interest to the top of the vignette.

Finally, the gray skull and copper LED lights solidified the spooky feel – now, all I need is a fog machine!

PRODUCT LIST: HALLOWEEN FIREPLACE DECORATIONS

This mantle was the ultimate mix-match of vintage items, DIY crafts, and store-bought decorations, and was fun to put together such a dark and spooky vignette. I hope it gives you a bit of vintage-decorating inspiration to make your home just as spooky this Halloween!